For the first time since 2020, President Donald Trump appeared in the Black Hills at Mount Rushmore. This time, Friday, July 3, it was the eve of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A severe weather advisory and hail preceded his arrival and pageantry enveloped his approach. As he stepped onto the stage, the crowd of nearly 5,000 chanted “USA! USA! USA!”
He centered his speech on the country’s birthday, while emphasizing American excellence and the “resurgence of the communist menace,” with a nod to fears about immigration as well. He also took the opportunity to push for the passage of the SAVE America Act and highlight the importance of the midterms.
“On this anniversary, we must remember, we have to remember, we can never forget that American liberty has not endured for 250 years merely because of words on paper. Liberty has prevailed here because of the culture and character of the people who declared it, defended it and preserved it,” Trump said.
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Prior to Trump’s speech, Mount Rushmore National Memorial Superintendent Jennifer Carpenter welcomed the crowd, after the weather advisory lifted at 6:35 p.m. Country music artist Chancey Williams performed live music, as did the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. Williams is set to play a concert at Main Street Square in Rapid City on the evening of July 4, and the Air Force band played at the Memorial Park Bandshell on July 1. Gov. Larry Rhoden delivered a speech and introduced former North Dakota governor and current Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who spoke before ultimately introducing the president.
Air Force One flew over the memorial twice before landing at Ellsworth Air Force Base around 7:50 p.m. President Trump took off for Mount Rushmore in Marine One around 8:15 p.m. He was greeted at the base by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Ellsworth Commander Col. Jonathan A. Keller and Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Podgorski.
All said, the Rushmore festivities began at about 7 p.m. and concluded at about 10 p.m. after a barrage of fireworks surrounded the granite presidents’ faces. The crowd filed to their vehicles and traveled through dense traffic seldom seen in the Black Hills.
Trump touts the virtues of South Dakota pols, Americans, scolds use of term ‘stolen land’
The president called Senate Majority Leader John Thune, “a good friend of mine,” Sen. Mike Rounds a “great guy,” and thanked Rhoden.
“You live in a very special place. Congratulations, everybody,” Trump said. “From the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies to the white sand shores of the Gulf of America, right here in the Black Hills of the Dakotas, after 250 years of America, American freedom still rings.”
President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Rushmore on Friday, July 3.
Trump did not mention outgoing Rep. Dusty Johnson, who recently was beaten in the primary race for South Dakota governor by Rhoden and Toby Doeden. The two are competing in a run-off election on July 28. One will advance to the November general election.
Trump also did not mention former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who hosted Trump at Mount Rushmore in 2020 and gifted him a bust showing his face carved on the mountain. Noem served as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security until Trump dismissed her this year, giving her the position of special envoy to the Shield of the Americas. The Associated Press reported Noem said Trump told her in 2018 that it was his dream to have his face carved in the monument. Trump posted a rendering of his face on the mountain to Truth Social ahead of the speech, Newsweek reported.
On Friday, however, he didn’t mention his likeness making it into the granite.
The president called the four presidents that are on Mount Rushmore — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — “men of action, men of ambition, men of daring, men of destiny and men of truly great intelligence.”
“As for those who peddle Marxist lies about our heritage, tell our children that we live on stolen land, or that our heroes were oppressors, they're doing something much worse than slandering our past,” Trump said. “They are slandering and attacking our future.”
That was the president’s only reference to the complex history of Mount Rushmore, which is located on land the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was illegally seized in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty.
Communism ‘a mortal threat’ worse than 9/11, Trump says
Aside from highlighting American inventions and freedom, Trump said American identity is being challenged by a “resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country.”
“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11,” Trump said.
A Secret Service Counter Sniper Team member keeps an eye on Mount Rushmore ahead of President Donald Trump’s arrival on Friday, July 3.
Aside from the Cold War, the United States has a longstanding history of suspicion of communism and two specific Red Scare eras. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a Red Scare is a period of public fear and anxiety over the supposed rise of communist or socialist ideologies in a noncommunist state. The term is generally used to describe two such periods in the United States. The first occurred from 1917 to 1920, amid an increase in organized labor movements, immigration, urbanization, and industrialization. The second period, also called McCarthyism after U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, took place from roughly 1947 to 1954.
“It's an ideology of mass theft, mass control, mass lies, and mass murder,” Trump said. “Such doctrines can be given no quarter in a democracy, because the first thing they do when they get into power is turn around and destroy it … You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both.”
Trump weaves communism comments in with importance of SAVE America Act
After the president said, “We resolve and swear for all to hear that the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly … and send them into exile,” he pivoted to the SAVE America Act before doubling down on communism again.
The president pushed for the elimination of the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. Filibustering is a tactic to delay a floor vote on a bill by prolonging debate. Under current law, it takes 60 senators to end a filibuster. If filibustering is taken out of lawmakers’ toolboxes, a simple majority will be all it takes to pass a bill.
The SAVE America Act would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and photo identification when voting. Both are already required in South Dakota. The U.S. House has passed the bill, but it has yet to make it out of the Senate. Thune has consistently said there aren’t enough votes to pass the bill, telling Fox Business in June, "For me, it's a function of math.”
Trump said, “We will send them (communists) quickly away, and we will continue to build our country bigger and better and stronger than ever before. America will never be a communist country. We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms, if we are foolish, stupid, and unwise. But if we terminate the filibuster as we should do and immediately vote for the SAVE America Act, we do that, we're not going to lose an election for 100 years. The Communist Party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals, and everybody that doesn't want to work.”
Within minutes of Trump leaving the stage, the fireworks began. It’s been six years since a fireworks show at Rushmore.
Air Force One lands at Ellsworth Air Force Base on Friday, July 3, carrying President Donald Trump.
Air Force One taxis at Ellsworth Air Force Base after landing on Friday, July 3.
Photos from the America 250 events at Mount Rushmore
Have a look at what it was like at Mount Rushmore on Friday, July 3, the day before the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A weather advisory sent attendees looking for shelter from hail. Admittance paused temporarily before resuming. Air Force One flew over the memorial on its way to Ellsworth Air Force Base, where the president landed before taking Marine One to Mount Rushmore and speaking for just shy of 30 minutes before a half-hour-long fireworks show.
